Preferences in the color of fish largely depend on national characteristics.
Japanese people are very fond of red and white, which is also the color scheme of the Japanese national flag. This may be considered an auspicious color.
In Thailand, the home of betta fish, when a betta fish called the Thai flag, which has the colors of the Thai national flag of white, red, and blue, was bred, it commanded a ridiculously high price and was widely covered in the news.
Nowadays, the price seems to have dropped as it has been mass-produced, but it seems to be very popular. Apart from this national character, there are other colors that are highly supported by enthusiasts. That is black.

In the world of ornamental fish, its popularity can be seen from the fact that improved black varieties have been created for many fish. Solid black is no exception; solid black has been created for quite some time and is popular as a standard color. Even as a serious enthusiast myself, I react sensitively to the word black.

In November 2023, when I was touring the betta fish shops in Chatuchak as usual, the owner of one shop asked me about the Splendens Black that had just arrived. It was sold as.
Just hearing that it's a new variety that just arrived is enough to make me salivate, but the word "black" made me want to buy it even more. In fact, at this time, an improved black variety of the wild type Splendens had not yet appeared.
Since it just arrived and no one has bought it yet, I take it easy on the sales pitch that I'm not sure if it's true or false that you're the first one, so I check the actual product.
Although they were not pure black as I had imagined, there were wild monochrome Splendens with beautifully elongated tail fins, and I quickly selected and purchased two beautiful pairs.
It was a very energetic individual, so I was able to successfully photograph it the next day.
Since it is a new variety, I was thinking about how to introduce it, but since it has a chic color that is not flashy at all, I ended up introducing it later in the order.

In the meantime, the year 2024 has arrived, and when I visited Thailand again in April, I was shown that the shop where I bought Splendence Black last time had just received 6 pairs of Benjarong Black.
I thought it was probably the same fish again, so I shined a flashlight into the dark tank and found that, contrary to my expectations, it was clearly a different species from the previous fish. The body color varies slightly, with blue coloration also visible on each fin and the scales on the opposite side. Judging from the yellow color on each fin, it seems to have evolved from Splendens Yellow.
Although the elongation of the tail fin is not as long as the previous Splendens Black, the anal fin is also well elongated and has a very beautiful form. The moment I saw this Benjaron Black, I had an idea that it would be interesting to introduce these two types of wild Splendens together. With this, Splendence Black, which had been shelved, can now see the light of day. So, this time I will be introducing two types of black wild type Splendens, so I would like you to compare the differences in the photos.

By the way, regarding the difference between the product names Splendens and Benjaron, I checked at several stores and found that there is no clear definition, and some names are based on the mood of the moment. Personally, I had imagined that Benjaron has a spade-shaped tail fin, which differentiates it from Splendens, but it seems I was overthinking it.

At the same time as I was writing this manuscript, news of a new variety of Splendens also came in.
It would be interesting if the wild style of Splendor with its very active movements could be accepted in Japan, but I feel a little sad that it still seems to be difficult.